Change-making



June 2, 1931. R, KUENSTLER 1,807,789

CHANGE MAKING DEVICE Filed Oct. 4. 1930 4 Sheets-Shee l lNVENTbR iard {Miler Zia ATTORN Y June 2, 1931.

' R. KUENSTLER GHANQE MAKING DEVICE Filed Oct. 4. 1930 '4 Sheets-Shee 2 INVENTOR 7fllclzard Juenszler 1w TTORNEY June 1931. R. KUENSTLER CHANGE MAKING DEVICE Filed ed. 4. 1950 4 Sheets-Shee s INVE NTOR 7Zic7zarzl fi emil r t l I 1 4- 1w TTOR Y June 2, 1931. KUENSTLER 1,807,789

CHANGE MAKING DEVICE Filed Oct. 4. 1930 4 Sheets-Shee 4 I INVENTOR Patented June 2, 1931 UNETED STATES PATENT oral-ca CHANGE-MAKING .DEVICE Application filed October 4, 1930. Serial No. 486,312.

This invention relates to an improvement in a machine for counting and changing coins. It has for its object the production of an exceedingly, simple device of this character, and one which will be unfailing in operation and always accurate in" dispens ng the proper amount of change. A further object of this invention is to provide a change-making device, which may if desired be used in combination with a cash drawer or the like so that a closing movement of the drawer will serve to ejectthe selected amount of cash in coin from the machine.

With these objects and such other objects as may hereinafter appear; in view, I have devised the particular arrangement of parts set forth below and more particularly pomted out in the claims appended hereto.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawingaforming a part hereof in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View ofa change-making deviceymade in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is asectional View of the plate which supports the coin-ejectors, the slide actuator and one of the slides at the beginning of its movement toward the coin magazine;

Figure 3 is a similar sectional vlew showing the slide ejecting a coin; 4

Figure 4; is a sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 1, lookingin the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5 is a sectional View on the line 5'5 of Figure 1, lookingin the direction of the arrows; V

Figure-6 is a View showing the means-for operating thekey-release plates; s

Figure 7 is a View showing one of thelevers for depressing the slide-springs and the key connected to said lever, and attendantinechanism; V v

Figure 8 is a plan viewof the machine;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of'one of the coin-magazines; and

Figure 10 isa sectional view on thecline 1010 of Figure 4, looking in thedirectionof the arrows. v

Throughout the various vi ws of tiled-raw ings, similarireference characters similar parts.

In the embodiment of my invention asdisclosed in the accompanying drawings, 1 indesignate dicates a base plate of a suitable casing within which the mechanism of my change-making device and a sliding cashdraweris adapted to be contained. suchcasinginaybegof any suitable contour, the same being Idependent upon the size of and thepartichlar purpose to which the device is to be put. [In the structure shown, said casing is provided with side walls 2gand'3, and an. elevated top plate 68. Y j o Contained-within the casing thus describ ed, is a pair of spaced supportingmembers or brackets 5 and 6, the top oftheseimembers being connectedby a supportingor base plate 7. Said base plate 7; which is more'clearly disclosed in Figures' l and l0,.is'pro vided' with a plurality of undercut strips 8, said strips being secured to the top face of the plate 7 by means of screws 9' or. otherl like fastening means. The strips 8 are so spaced relative to one another that theypprovide grooves 10 between them, within which slides 11 are adapted to reciprocate, which slides act as ejecting members for the purpose'of ejecting successive ,coins'from coin stacks that are positioned on the machine as will be described.

The coin stacks just'referred to are disclosed at 12 and these'stac ks, consisting of piled coins of different denominations,are held in-a row of coin magazines'or tubes" 13 to 22 inclusive. Said coin-magazines or tubes are held in an aligned row; as disclosed in Figures 4 and 8 or the drawing and are supported over the base plate? .by being welded or otherwise attached to aj grooved vertical plate 23providedonthecasing of the machine. One of these coin tubes is shown in detail inFigure 9, where .it'will be seen/chat the same is of simple tubular form of a diameter to closely encompass the particular coins for which it'is'intended and is provided with an elongated inspection fslot24cr'in order to render visible 'the'coins-within the tube so that the'amount t-hereinean be determined at a'glance. The'lower end ofeaqlj of the coin tubes is preferably provided with a pair of dependent lugs and 26, the purpose of these lugs being to hold the lowermost coin in alignment with the others in the stack and permit a smooth ejection of said lowermost coin as will be pointed out.

It will be seen from the drawings that for each of the vertically disposed coin-tubes, I provide one of the slides 11 so that when a slide is thrust forward, the same will move below a coin tube and the end of said slide will abut against the lowermost coin 25 in said tube and eject the same in the manner clearly disclosed in Figures 2 and 3. The ejected coin (or number of coins, as I eject a selected number at once) will fall on an in clined supporting tray 27 and from thence to a flat portion 28 of said tray where, since the coins are spread out flat, the amount may be counted at a glance by the person receiving the change, and removed. To facilitate the ejection of successive lowermost coins from the stacks, I provide the respective slides 11 with a tapered contacting end 29.

To restrict the sliding movement of the slides 11 I provide a stop screw 30 for each slide, said screws extending upwardly from the base plate 7 and fitting freely within a slot 31 provided in each slide.

The inner end of each one of the slides projects beyond the inner edge 32 of the base plate 7, and said inner end of each slide 11 is bent downwardly as at 33 so as to be engaged by a sliding carriage 34 and withdrawn from its position of coin-ejection Each slide 11 also carries a fiat spring finger 35 which is attached to the upper face of the slide as by the screws 36. The outer or free end of each of the springs 35 is curled as disclosed at 37 or else is provided with a head of some sort. From the foregoing, the construction of each slide, or coin-ejector, will be clearly comprehended. Each slide consists of a flat strip portion 11, having a tapered coin-engaging end 29, a downwardly bent opposite end 33 and a fiat spring member 35 which extends out beyond the downwardly bent end 33 for a purpose to be explained.

The side supports 5 and 6 have their top faces provided with a guide-way by being grooved as at 38 and ball-bearings 39 are carried in these grooves, said bearings supporting the side bars 40 of the sliding carriage or actuator 34. Said side bars 40 are connected by longitudinal end members 41 and 42 to form the carriage. The member 41 may be of solid construction, the member 42 being preferably channel-shaped as is clearly disclosed in Figure 2.

The carriage 34 is arranged to be reciprocated on its supports 5 and 6, the same being easily movable on its ball-bearing supports, said carriage being intended to shift a selected number of coin-ejecting slides 11 forward to eject selected coins when the carriage is moved toward the coin stacks, and adapted to withdraw said slides when it is moved in the reverse direction. Said carriage 34 is shifted toward the coin stacks by means of a lever 44 which is pivoted to the casing as at 45, the upper end of said lever terminating in a fiat part or handle 46 for manual engagement, the lower end of the lever being provided with a pivoted roller 47 adapted to bear against a contact plate 48 provided on the cross-member 42 of the carriage. From the construction just described, it will be seen that the carriage 34 will be moved on its support toward the coin stacks by moving the lever 44 in the direction of the arrow 46a in Figure 1. The carriage is restored to its normal position, as shown in Figure 1, by means of springs 49, one end of each of said springs being connected to a pin 50 on the carriage 34, the other end being connected to a pin 51 provided on the supports 5 and 6.

The function of the sliding carriage 34 will now be clear. Under the impulse of manual pressure applied to the lever 44, the carriage 34 is thrust forwardly in the direction of the coin stacks. On its movement in that direction, it forces toward the coin-stacks, such coin-ejecting slides 11 as have been selected and held in position to receive the thrust of the carriage. After the slides thus projected toward the coin stacks by movement of the carriage 34, have ejected the lowermost coin from their respective stacks, the carriage moves back to its former position, such rearward movement being caused by the springs 49. On such rearward movement, the slides that were moved forward are drawn bael wardly, the cross member 41 on the carriage 34 engaging with the downwardly bent portion 33 on the slides and drawing them backward with it as it moves rearwardly under the pull of the springs 49. The manner in which the slides are selected for coin ejection will now be described.

A reference to Figures 1, 5 and 7 discloses two groups of depression levers, one of these groups of levers being designated by the numeral 55 and the other by the numeral 56, Those levers within the group 55 are each pivoted at one of their ends on a shaft 57, suitably mounted in ears 58 on the casing of the machine adjacent to the side wall 2. The ends of the levers comprised within the group 56 are similarly pivotally mounted on a shaft 58 held in cars 59 provided at the opposite side wall 3 of the casing. The two groups of levers just described, extend out-- wardly from their respective pivots and overlie the spring fingers 35 provided on the coin-ejection slides 11. These levers 55 and 56 act to select and depress the spring fingers 35, thus causing said fingers to be flexed downwardly and their ends to be brought into alignment with the channelled cross HTGIYIlJQI' 42 of the carriage 34, so that said member 42 I saute-ass -33 engages against the ends 37 of the springs thus depressed and on the movement O'f the carriage 34: toward thelettotFiguresi1,.2 and'3, the carriage shifts thev slidesxiwhose springs are thus engaged and causes said slides to eject the lowermost coin in their. :respective stacks.

Each one of the levers in the twogroups and 56 is provided-with one or'moreidownwardly extended projections 60. ,Thenumber of projections 60 arranged on each lever is dependent upon the number of slides tobe operated upon by the particular lever upon which the projections are formed. 'For-instance, in Figure l 7 the lever 56 therein shown, isprovided with two projections 60. Thus when said lever 56 is depressed through a key device to be hereafter described, it will serve to depress the spring fingers 35 on the two slides, that are located directly. below the two projections, those two slides beingfor instance, a slide that ejects nickels froma nickel stack and a slide that ejects dimes from a dime stack. The result isthat when the lever of Figure 7 is depressed, fifteen cents will be ejected. From the illustration just given, it will be apparent that any combination of change in coin can be ejected by depressingone or more of the depression levers according to the'arra'ngement of projections on the depressedlevers. An endless number of combinations. can be arranged merely by arranging the downwardly extending-pro jections on the levers ;55 and 56to suit requirements. While I haveshown these projections as being integral with the levers, it will be understood that the same maybemade separate and removable and can be held in position by set screws so that they may be shifted to suit requirements. The number of depression levers employed can also be varied,-the'amount-so employed being dependent upon individual requirements.

To each of the depression leversin the groups 55 and 56 is attached an operating key, said key consisting ofa stem '61, to the upper end of which is provided a head 62 and to the lower end a clevis 63 that is pivoted as at 64 to the lever which the key operates. The stem 61 is formed with a notch 65 in one of its edges and said notch is adapted to engage with the edge 66 of a slot 67 in the top plate 68 ofthe casing, through which said stem passes. A'spring 69 extends between the stem 61 and the plate 68 and tends to draw the stem 61 upward and consequently to also draw the notch 65 into engagement with the edge 66 when-the-key is manually depressed. Movable on top of the casing plate 68: is a: pairiofkey-release plates 70 and 71, there being one of these keyrelease plates for each groupof'keys, the keys on the levers 55 comprising one group, and those on the levers 56 comprising :the other.

These two plates" are each slotted as" at 72 to permit theistems'l6l of theirrkeys tofpass throughyand atieachaslot is1a projection 7 3 ."which. is adaptedz toaexert: pressure against the stem.61,:andWhen-the plates70 and 71 "are shitted'asfindicatedby the arrows in Figure 7, sai'd projection forces the notch 65 :out

"keys, by imeansxofa a roller 74 thatisprovided on'the-upper'en'd .ofan' upright 7 5 that is fixed on. and carriediby an intermediate cross gi ece 7 6 provided on the sliding carriage: 34. hen the. carriagexit i is: moved toward the left'aof Figurel; this .roller'74'comes into contact withaipair .of'T'camJsurfaceS 77- and 78 that are provided on. downward extensions 79 and 28001? the. plates 70.and 1'71, suchextensions being movable'in'an opening 80 providedforthem in the top plate68of the easing. The plates 70 and71 areznormally held togetheribyi aspring 81 that extendsbetween and connects'an arm:82:on the plate 70 with a similar arm 83 ion Jtheplate 71. MOV6- ment of the plates Z0-=and 71*toward-a-nd awayf-romreach other is restricted by slots 84' which'receive pins 85 projecting from the face of the casingplatetiS.

From the" foregoing," the manner .in which my improved changei-making'device .operates, will be readily. understood. :The coinmagazines 13 and 22 inclusivetare filled with stacks of coins, eachzsta'ck containing coins of difiere'ntdehomination,with some of. the

stacks containingasimilar coins. As .an example, the" magazine 13 may containhalf-dollars; the magazine l i'maycontain quarters; the magazine 15 may contain dimes the magazines 1-6' and 1'71 may each'contain nickels; themagazines 18, 19,205and 21n1ay contain pennies andthemagazine 22 may containnickels. It will of course be'understood that the :above ismerely an example of C0111 placement as many other: arrangements may be desirable according" toparticular usage. Assuming that it is desired' to provide sixtyfive cents in chan'ge. We seek a key'bearing the legend 65 "and depress such. key. If necessary two keys, the total of which is sixty- ;five centsma be used. If one key is used, said key wou d be'one carrying three projections' 60, one of which would depress the spring 35 on a slide 11" that ejects a fifty-cent piece from the stack 13. Anotherprojection 60 on the selected lever woulddepress a spring finger 35' on the slide that ejects a dime from the stack. 15 and a third. projection-60 would depress a' spring 35 on a slide that would eject .a nickel from the stack 16. The key thus depressed-would be held down by reason of the engagement. of its notch 65 with the edge 66 of its slot 67. 'fAft er the .keyis .depressed,the hand:1even44wou1d=then be manipulated by pushing it to the right in Figurel. This movement of the hand lever would serve to move the carriage 34 toward the coin-stacks and as this movement of the carriage 34 began, the headed ends 37 of the particular springs that were depressed by the key would engage with the channel member 42 of the carriage 34 (see Figure 2). As the movement of the carriage 34 in the direction of the coin stacks continues, the roller 74 that is carried by said carriage, is brought into contact with the cam surfaces 77 and 7 8 of the key-release plates and 71, the two plates being thus spread apart by such action. The spreading of these plates brings one of the projections 7 3 against the depressed key and shifts it, causing its disengagement from the ed e 66, so that the key begins to rise. Thus, shortly after the depressed springs 35 are engaged by the channel member 42, the

key or keys which depressed those particular springs is released and is permitted to rise. As further movement of the carriage 34 continues, the slides which are being moved by said frame reach their respect ve coinma azin es and eject the lowermost coins therefrom, such ejected coins being thrown out on the inclined portion 27 of the receiving tray and fall to the flat surface 28 thereof where they are recovered by the person to whom the change is issued. As soon as the coins are ejected, manual pressure on the lever 44 is released and the carriage 34 moves rearwardly under the impulse of the springs 49 to the right in Figure 1. On such reverse movement, its cross member 41 engages with the downwardly bent ends 33 of the slides which the carriage just moved, and draws said slides back to their former normal position.

The simplicity of the structure which I have herein described, will be very apparent from the foregoing description. By the simple pressure of one or more keys, and the movement of the ejector carriage, the desired amount of change will be ejected, the coins so ejected being deposited in side-by-side relationship on the tray before the recipient so that he may at a glance count the change which he receives. Almost any combination of coins may be arranged by merely suitably arranging the coin magazines and the projections on the depression levers.

I have thus far described my coin-changing device as an independent instrumentality intended for manual operation. It may also be adapted for use in connection with a cash drawer, or a drawer that contains paper money or currency, so that the act of closing the drawer will automatically eject the desired change in coin. This arrangement is disclosed in Figures 1, 5 and 8, where it will be seen that the casing which contains the change-making device is made of such proportions as to accomodate a drawer 90 within it. Said drawer is suitably partitioned as at 91 to receive bills of different denominations and is provided with an operating handle 99. The back 92 of the drawer is out out as at 93 and a slidable member 94, movable in guides 95 and 96, is adapted to be moved across to cover such cut-out portion when the drawer is to be rendered operative for actuating the change-making device. It will be seen that when the member 94 is moved across the cut-out portion 93 to close the same, the drawer will, on being closed, bring the back of said member 94 against the lower part of the plate 48 on the carriage 34, cansing said carriage to be moved inwardly and eject the coins that have been selected by a previous depression of the proper key. When the drawer is again drawn out, the springs 49 restore the carriage 34 to its normal position.

lVith the construction just described, a person desiring to receive both bills and change, presents his request to the operator of the device, who draws open the bill drawer, presses the necessary key or keys to provide the correct amount of change in coins. He then closes the drawer, such action ejecting the coins. Should the operator not desire to use the drawer for the purpose of operating the change-making device, the drawer can be rendered inoperative thereon, by merely drawing aside the member 94 to uncover the opening 93 through which the plate 48 on the carriage 34 freely passes.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is 1. A device of the class described comprising coin-stack supports, means for ejecting coins from each of the stacks, said ejection means having normally elevated parts, a slide for moving the coin-ejectors, and means for selecting and depressing the ele vated parts on certain of said coin-ejectors to locate said depressed parts in the path of movement of the slide.

2. In a device of the class described, a support, a plurality of coin-holders arranged thereon, a slidable member movable on the support beneath each of the coin-holders and adapted to eject the lowermost coin therefrom, a movable ejection member for operating the slides, contact members carried by the slides, said members being normally held in an elevated position out of the path of movement of the ejection member and means for moving selected contact members clownward and into the path of movement of the ejection member.

3. In a device of the class described, a coin-magazine, a slide movable relative thereto for ejecting successive coins from the magazine, means for shifting the slide to cause coin ejection and movable leaf spring means on the slide for causing said slide to be operated by the slide-shifting means.

4:. In a device of the class described means for supporting stacked coins, slides for ejecting coins from said stacks, a reciprocating carriage, spring members carried by the slides, said spring members being normally held out of the path of movement of the carriage, and means for selecting and flexing certain of said spring members to cause the same to be held in contact with the carriage and shifted thereby on the movement of the carriage.

5. In a device of the class described, coinsupporting means, coin-shifting means comprising a slide movable below the coin support for successively ejecting coins therefrom, an actuating member, a spring tongue carried by the slide and means for flexing the tongue to bring the same within the path of movement of the actuating member.

6. In a device of the class described, coin supporting means, coin-shifting means comprising a series of slides movable below the coin-support for successively ejecting coins therefrom, a sliding actuating member, a spring tongue carried by each of the slides, means for flexing said tongues to bring the same within the path of sliding movement of the actuating member, said tongue-flexing means being operated by a plurality of manually operated keys.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination with coin-ejecting members, of a reciprocating slide for shifting said members, contact means carried by the coin-eject ing members, said contact means being normally held in an elevated position over and above the path of movement of the slide, and a series of operating keys for depressing the contact means on said coin-ejecting members and holding the same within the path of movement of the slide.

8. In a device of the class described, a row of coinmagazines, a slidable member movable relative to each of said coin-magazines for ejecting successive coins therefrom, a s ring tongue carried by each of said slidable members, means for depressing selected tongues, a carriage movable relative to the coin-magazines, said carriage being adapted to engage depressed tongues and shift the slidable members to which said tongues are attached in one direction, and means on the slides for engagement by the carriage for shifting said slides in a reverse direction.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination with coin-ejecting members, of a reciprocating slide for shifting said members, movable flexible contact members carried by the coin-ejecting members, said contact members being normally held in an unflexed condition out of the path of movement of the slide, and a series of operating keys for flexing the contact members on said coin-ejecting members and holding the same within the path of movement of the slide, some of said keys being adapted to flex several contact members.

10. In a device of the class described, a row of coin-magazines, a slidable member movable relative to each of said coin-magazines for ejecting successive coins therefrom, a spring tongue carried by each of said slidable members, means for depressing selected tongues, a carriage movable relative to the coin-magazines, said carriage being adapted to engage depressed tongues and shift the slidable members to which said tongues are attached in one direction, means on the slides for engagement by the carriage for shifting said slides in a reverse direction, and means carried by the carriage for releasing the pressure of the tongue-depressing means after the carriage has started its movement in one direction.

11. In a device of the class described, a series of coin stacks, a slide movable relative to each of said stacks for ejecting successive coins therefrom, each of said slides being provided with a spring tongue, a carriage, levers overlying said tongues and means on each of said levers for depressing certain tongues to cause said tongues to be engaged by the carriage, keys for depressing said levers, and means for releasing depressed keys after the carriage has engaged the tongues 1tihat were depressed by the movement of such eys.

Signed at the city, county, and State of New York this 3rd day of October, 1930.

RICHARD KUENSTLER. 

